Take a bite into this fantastic cake to find a sweet-tart lemon curd in the middle. Delicious! I can’t decide if this Lemon Butter Almond Cake is more cake-like or bread-like. I’m thinking everyone who tries it gets to vote.
Made with fresh lemon rind and almond extract, plus Homemade Lemon Curd in the middle, this cake is perfect for any occasion, celebration, or brunch table.
The golden brown crust is topped with slivered almonds for a pretty presentation, but just wait until you taste it. Yummy.
Making Lemon Butter Almond Cake
Prepare the springform pan by greasing the bottom and then lining the sides with parchment paper. It only needs to be as high as the pan.
By using parchment paper, you avoid having to run a knife around the edges, thereby roughing up the sides.
The parchment paper, after it’s baked, pulls away easily and the sides look as beautiful as the top.
If you’re fresh out of parchment paper, I would grease the sides with shortening, then carefully run the knife around the sides in one fluid motion.
In other words, don’t go up and down like you’re sawing wood. LOL
In a large bowl, beat the sugar and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy.
Next, add one egg at a time, and just until blended, then beat for another 2 minutes scraping the sides as needed.
Reduce the speed to low for the next part. After all, you don’t want flour all over your kitchen.
So yeah, add the flour, grated lemon rind, baking powder, and almond extract. Beat just until blended and definitely do not over mix.
Why, you ask? When you over mix batter, the dough can get aerated, which means there’s too much air incorporated into the mix.
Over mixing can also result in extra gluten development; which means that over mixing will give your cakes, pancakes, and breads a gummy or unpleasantly chewy texture. Yuck.
Let’s talk Lemon Curd.
At this point, you’re ready to put the batter in the springform pan, but first you need some lemon curd.
My last post, fortunately, was a recipe for Homemade Lemon Curd. Fancy that!
You can also use store bought, though, if you so desire. Might not be as great, but it’ll still be good.
If you use store bought, taste it first. If it’s not tart enough, add some grated lemon rind to it. Just a thought.
Back to the cake.
Spread half of the cake batter in the bottom of the prepared springform pan. The batter will be thick.
Next, spread the lemon curd on top of the cake batter, but stop short of the edge by about 1/2 an inch.
Spoon the cake batter around the edge, then across the top. Spread gently to completely cover lemon curd.
To make this easier, spoon lots of little dollops so there is less to spread.
Push down gently on each dollop to flatten it out, which results in them eventually connecting together for a smooth top.
Sprinkle the almonds on top, and it’s time to bake.
The oven should be preheated to 350°. Bake for 50 – 55 minutes, or until center is set and the top is golden brown.
Allow the cake to cool in the springform pan for 1 hour on a wire rack, and yes, expect the center to fall a little.
It’s ok if the center falls; it always falls a little with all that delicious moist lemon curd in there.
So, depending on how you prepared the pan before baking, either 1) run the knife carefully around the edge, then release the spring, or 2) if you used the parchment paper, just release the spring and remove the paper.
Optional, but very pretty, sprinkle a little powdered sugar on top before serving.
So, you like cake, do you?
Who doesn’t…check out these other cake recipes I think you might have to try.
- Lemon Oreo Cheesecake
- Best Chocolate Rum Cake
- Tropical Carrot Cake
- Chocolate Banana Pudding Cake
- Pumpkin Pecan Coffee Cake
Or, check out the cake section on my blog and drool over the pictures.
Just so you know, I did not eat all those cakes by myself…I shared.
Lemon Butter Almond Cake
Materials
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 5 large eggs
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp. lemon rind, grated
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. almond extract
- 1 1/2 cups lemon curd store bought, or see recipe for Homemade Lemon Curd
- 1/3 cup slivered almonds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Grease bottom and sides of 9-inch springform pan. Optional method, grease bottom and line sides with parchment paper (preferred method).
- In large bowl, beat sugar and butter on medium until smooth. Add 1 egg at a time and just until blended, then beat for 2 minutes. Scrape bowl as needed.
- On low speed, add flour, lemon rind, baking powder, and almond extract. Beat just until blended, do not over mix.
- Spread half cake batter on bottom of pan (batter with be thick).
- Spread lemon curd evenly onto cake batter, stopping 1/2-inch short of side.
- Spoon remaining batter around edge and across top. Spread gently to completely cover lemon curd.
- Sprinkle almond slivers over top. Bake for 50 - 55 minutes, or until center is set and cake is golden brown.
- Allow to cool in springform pan for 1 hour on wire rack. Center of cake will sink slightly as it cools.
- To remove from springform pan, run thin knife along sides before releasing spring. Otherwise, release sides and peel parchment paper off.
- Option to sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon powdered sugar before serving. Store covered in refrigerator. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Lemon Butter Almond Cake
Thanks so much for reading down this far. I love hearing from my readers, so please leave me a comment and rate the recipe.
Also, follow me on Pinterest and sign up for emails so you get the latest out of my kitchen. I’m always trying to find the next great recipe to share.
Have a wonderful day and I’ll see you next recipe.
Copyright © Sweet Ordeal. All content and images are copyright protected. Do not use any images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, make sure to re-write the recipe in your own words and only list ingredients making sure to link back to this post for the original recipe and directions.